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There’s quite a lot to do at New York Comic Con, but this year there is one less things for industry pros: the annual ICv2 White Paper conference put on by Milton Griepp. We’ve covered this extensively over the years, but there won’t be one this year. As Griepp told his mailing list:

We regret to inform you that there will be no ICv2 conference at New York Comic Con this year.  Last year, New York Comic Con took first steps toward running its own B2B event, with ICv2 support, but elected not to move forward with a full ReedPOP B2B event as planned this year, citing conflict for resources with New York Anime Fest, a major new side event kicking off during the show.  NYCC also informed us last Friday that they are declining to have ICv2 run our own B2B event at the 2018 show, citing space issues. 

We’ve had a great run with New York Comic Con in the years since our first business conference in 2006, bringing together thought leaders and key figures in the comics industry for conferences on graphic novels, digital comics, anime and manga, the future of comics, and other issues of the day, and want to thank them for their support.

We also want to give special thanks to Calvin Reid of Publishers Weekly and Heidi MacDonald of The Beat for their support over the years, to our own Rob Salkowitz for his many contributions, and to the many other moderators, panelists, speakers, and especially sponsors who made the events possible.

We’re currently exploring new opportunities for live/virtual ICv2 events. 

I was indeed a frequent consultant on topics and possible speakers, but even as a collaborator, there were always great insights to be found at the event. Last year’s BookScan talk revealed tons of fascinating stats, and it was also the occasion for Griepp to deliver his own White Paper on the state of comics sales.  This report was constantly quoted and analyzed and not having it is a major bummer.

All that said, integrating a B2B function at NYCC has always been a tight fit. At first it was held the day before the con (which was once Thursday), then Wednesday, and last year Thursday afternoon. Space is indeed very tight at Javits, so I can understand ReedPOP’s concerns as well.

Griepp told me he’ll be putting together a White Paper report for the pro edition of ICv2. You can sign up for a sub to that here. 

The ICv2 Conference ws also the occasion for a networking cocktail reception which saw the meeting of minds such as this BookScan/Diamond summit. This industry schmoozefest gatehring will definitely be missed!

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